This invention relates to building accessories, and more particularly, to a floor corner guard to be installed in corners of rooms to facilitate cleaning and maintenance of a room.
The corner areas of a wall and floor are commonly known to be trouble areas for debris build-up in buildings. The debris build-up is unsightly and may generate a build-up of bacteria and mold if not properly cleaned. By clearing debris, other issues such as bacteria build-up or mold are mitigated. Corners make a perfect trap for collecting debris due to the often ninety degrees angles they provide, thus limiting the direction from which dirt can be reached and preventing easy cleaning. This issue is further increased by homes, industrial buildings, healthcare facilities, and any other buildings that have overhangs due to drywall sheeting, baseboards, decorative molding, and other design or architectural choices as it reduces the ease of which the corners are cleaned. These overhangs exacerbate the issues involved with cleaning corners by preventing easy access to the corner for a cleaning device while also serving to keep some portion of debris build-up hidden from the cleaner's sight.
Further, wall and floor corners include meeting points of two angles of the floor itself, and these present further difficulties for cleaners by limiting access to debris by two angles: requiring tricky maneuvering of a broom, mop, vacuum, or another cleaning device to truly clean. Therefore, an effective corner guard will not only prevent debris build-up but enable easier and more efficient cleaning of the corner space.
Also, because of the maneuvering of the cleaning device, or frustration of the cleaner, current corner guards' area often subjected to harsh methods of sweeping which over time can damage the integrity of the guard by bending or pushing it away from the area it is supposed to protect. These forces may bend the cover back, may push the cover up the wall, may break through the corner of the cover, or may in some other way cause debris to enter the corner area under the cover. Therefore, care needs to be taken to prevent the failure of the structural integrity of the corner guard while ensuring it stays in place as an effective cover. For instance, previous corner guards are often rounded and of material with a comparatively high friction coefficient. The rounded shape can create issues as debris trapped on the corner guard may generate high friction thus creating thin line of debris being effectively trapped in the rounded corner preventing the escape of the debris. Therefore, it is not practical to merely just round the corners as all problems with the ninety-degree angles of cornering persist with the addition of added friction.
There are some corner guards that were developed to prevent debris build up. However, these systems either do not provide the necessary structural integrity, do not enable easier clean-up of the corner areas, are moved out of place over time, do not achieve a cleaner look, or some combination of the above and are therefore not truly sanitary.
For example, German Patent Application Publication No. 202008016631U1, published on Mar. 12, 2009, relates to a baseboard, and particularly for skirting for providing on the connection piece between a floor panel and an interior trim panel having a fold at its lower end, wherein the baseboard designed this decorative connector and the interior trim panel and the floor board coupled with one another, wherein said baseboard has a fastening ledge portion, an inner cladding board receiving portion, a decorative trim portion and a protrusion, wherein the mounting strip portion is a flat board portion that is disposed above the inner cladding board receiving portion and can be fastened on a flush surface, wherein the inner cladding board receiving portion has a support strip portion for placement of interior trim panels, which protrudes in a horizontal direction from the lower end of the fastening strip portion, and an insertion strip portion which is bent obliquely from the support strip portion upwards and the interior trim panel fixed by the fold at the bottom, the end of the interior trim panels intervenes wherein the moldings portion between the inner cladding board receiving portion and the projection is arranged and designed the connecting piece between the inner trim panel and decorative floor board, and wherein the projection in the horizontal direction from the lower end of the trim portion protrudes.
Spanish Patent Application Publication No. 2204283A1, published on Apr. 16, 2004, relates to a system covering installation cockpits, intended to ensure that the joints between walls and between them and the floor and ceiling as well as the very outer corners caused by columns, resulting fully rounded, looking eliminated edges and connection joints, which enables to make a comfortable and effective cleaning, while avoiding the accumulation of dirt and germs, all based on using a curved pieces which are arranged on the dihedral internal corners and edges on whose pieces are directly fixed the coating formed preferably by PVC sheets or similar material, provided it permits the bonding or welding between the different parts constituting the coating itself. The system is designed for use primarily in premises and/or habitat in which a neat hygiene and/or asepsis is required, such as so-called “clean”, such as operating rooms in hospitals, certain laboratories, vivarium areas, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,553,431 for a “Cove Base with Antimicrobial Agent and Method for Installing the Same” issued on Sep. 10, 1996 to inventor Frank Pelosi, Jr. et al., discloses a cove base that is made from a relatively thin extruded vinyl and has a height dimension which is substantially greater than the thickness. Although the cove base is used as a top set base and covers imperfections in the outer edges of floor tiles or the like, it has the appearance of a straight base in that it does not include a rounded toe. The cove base is wedge shaped in that it is thinner at the top and gradually thickens toward the bottom while the front surface remains substantially planar. A flexible projection which is a continuation of the front surface extends slightly downwardly and conforms to any high or low spots that may be in the flooring. This projection also defines a space behind the projection and beneath the remaining parts of the cove base which may be used to contain a foam strip or caulking material. The cove base, the foam strip, and/or the caulking material may include an antimicrobial agent therein.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,936,741 for a “Grooved, Corner-Ready Wall Base” issued on Jan. 20, 2015 to assignee Burke Industries, Inc., provides for a resilient wall base member manufactured with pre-scored grooves to allow relatively short, straight lengths to be used for both flat walls and wall corner junctures without on-site scoring operations or equipment. The lengths can either be pre-cut during manufacturing to convenient lengths or can be cut after manufacturing from coils.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,562,981 for an “Inverted Base” issued on Feb. 16, 1971 to inventor Erich Willfurth, discloses an inverted base such that when applied in position at the base of a wall and at floor level, it will be wholly disposed inwardly of the surface of the wall. The inverted base is formed of a thin, self-sustaining, yet sufficiently flexible metal and may be of any desired reentrant configuration, and is provided along its upper and lower side portions with lips each carrying a row of projecting teeth. The lips are designed to respectively engage the wall and floor with the teeth to be driven thereinto. The wall is generally formed of panels of any suitable material secured to studs. In the application of the inverted base the lower horizontal edge portion of the wall panel is beveled with the terminal edge spaced a distance above the floor surface thus providing a reentrant space to receive the inverted base. If desired, should a greater reentrant depth be desired a portion of the wall studs or beams may be cut out to accommodate the inverted base at a greater reentrant depth. The reentrant formation of the inverted base permits a variety of uses thereof as in doors and window frames, adjacent stair treads so to house an electric light, as a base opening housing fluorescent lights, and as a base opening receiving casings of baseboard heaters. In lieu of utilizing a metal inverted base, the floor surface may be covered with a flexible floor covering such as linoleum that is brought up along its end side portions to provide a base construction.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2016/0160510 for “Cove Base Molding Systems and Methods,” as published on Jun. 9, 2016 and listing inventor Christopher J. O'Brien, provides a cove base molding strip that includes a body comprising a planar portion having a front surface and a rear surface and a curved portion having a concave surface continuous with the front surface and a convex surface continuous with the rear surface. The rear surface includes at least a first channel. A cove anchor projects from the convex surface, and the intersection of the front surface and the rear surface define a rounded tip that projects from the planar portion. More specifically, the planar portion includes a front surface and a rear surface that intersect to define a rounded or radiused tip at an upper end of the body. The rounded tip projects rearward of the rear surface. The rounded tip extends beyond the rear surface in the resting position so that movement of the rear surface into the installed position causes the rounded tip to deform slightly which, when constructed from an elastic material, causes the rounded tip to press firmly against the wall, creating a seal that acts as a moisture barrier. The curved shape of the rounded tip provides a smaller surface area of the upper end of the cove base molding strip, thereby minimizing the amount of dust that can accumulate along the top of the cove base molding strip. The seal created by the rounded tip and the wall also eliminates the need for caulking this junction.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0175133 entitled “Floor Corner Guard” published on Aug. 2, 2007 by inventors Mark S. Woytowich, discloses a corner guard made for installation in floor corners. The corner guard may be made of flexible material and have three seating surfaces and a front face. Two of the seating surfaces are positioned adjacent to intersecting wall sections, and the third surface is positioned adjacent to the floor. The edge of the guard adjacent the floor will often be radiused to facilitate cleaning. Once installed the guard improves the overall cleanliness and appearance of a room by preventing dirt or debris from accumulating in difficult to clean corners.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,373,729 for a “Device and Method for Laying Floor Coverings in Corner Areas Where Floors and Walls Meet” issued on May 20, 2008 to assignee Gerflor, discloses a device for laying floor and wall coverings in reentrant corners, and comprises an independent insert obtained from the same material as the flooring and having two dimensions before laying and being defined in three dimensions after laying and having, when flat, a geometrical configuration of irregular lines so that, after laying, said insert has a regular parallelepiped geometrical configuration. The insert includes, three triangular areas, of which two of the bases are part of the peripheral outline of the insert and the third inner base makes it possible, by consecutive juxtaposition, to obtain a central triangular part sloping, after laying, and situated in a forward plane away from the corner part where the successive walls and the floor meet.
While the previous approaches may be beneficial in certain circumstances, there exists a need for an effective system for preventing debris build-up while enabling easier cleanup of the floor, in a manner that is both able to fit unguarded corners and retrofittable over existing corner guards.